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This is the year I’ve vowed to living more clean and working my way towards Zero Waste. For not only myself and family but for the environment. It is so important for us all to take care of ourselves and to teach our children the same.
A couple weeks ago I wrote my first post about making the switch to wasting less. I’m still going strong and the initial shock of how much plastic I have/use has not worn off, I can’t stop noticing it everywhere.
My biggest advice for going Zero Waste is don’t stop everything cold turkey, take it by steps – use up everything first and then switch to the better choice. Here’s everything I’ve been up to the past couple weeks, slow and steady is my motto in doing this.
Cloth napkins – this was one of my first steps to cut out one-use napkins mainly because I received a free stack of cloth napkins from my local Buy Nothing FB group. I just keep the napkins all in a small basket near the table.
Homemade bread in machine – we’ve been using our bread machine like crazy lately, we make a fresh loaf of bread every 2-3 days, it’s so easy literally takes me less than 5 minutes to throw the ingredients in the bread machine and it takes care of the rest. I bought a large size cloth bag that I store the bread in and received a bread box from the Buy Nothing FB group. It keeps the bread fresh the whole time.
Compost bin – I just learned that I can throw my veggie/fruit scraps, egg shells, coffee grinds in my yard waste bin and it’s made a huge difference. I’ve been searching on my Buy Nothing group and local thrift stores for a kitchen compost bin but until then I’ll just continue filling up a large coffee tin, which I feel up every other day.
Reusable grocery bags – this is one of the easiest ways to reduce the use of plastic bags, just get in a habit of bringing your reusable bags with you to the store. Not to mention I love that they hold much more items then a plastic bag. If you have a pile of plastic grocery bags, don’t throw them away find a way to use them or offer them on your Buy Nothing group or a food bank.
Bamboo toothbrushes – surprisingly I really love the bamboo toothbrush, the bristles are very soft but still feel like their cleaning your teeth. It makes you very sad to think about how much plastic toothbrushes get thrown away each year when you’re supposed to be changes toothbrushes every 2-3 months. I found this 4 pack of toothbrushes for less than $11
Buy bulk – I received a box of Mason jars from my Buy Nothing group and I immediately started using them, I’ve been trying to buy more in bulk and skip the prepacked bags/boxes. What I do is fill my bulk items with a produce bag or cloth bag and when I get home I empty it into a jar.
Un-Ziplock bags(Freezer) – Like I said I’m taking steps and when somethings out that’s when I replace it. So, when I ran out of freezer bags, I bought some reusable freezer bags and have been using my Tupperware containers more. We are now just waiting on our sandwich and snack size ziplock bags to run out.
Straws – I bought this 4 pack of metal straws for less than $5. We’ve been trying to stay clear of take out/fast food but when we do go out I’m prepared. Now I just need to start bringing my own drink cup and utensils.
Microfiber cloths – To clean and dust the counters with. We’ve been trying to use less paper towels to wipe things.
DIY Soaps – I ran out of dish soap and dishwasher soap so I decided to make my own and surprisingly it was SO easy. I’ll share the recipes on the blog sometime soon. Now I just need to find labels for my jars.
Produce subscription box – with Imperfect Produce we are saving produce from becoming waste as grocery store’s typically throw “imperfect” produce away even though it taste just fine. And we save 30-50% off. We love getting our weekly box! If you’d like to order a box, you can receive $10 off your first box with Imperfect Produce with my referral code. 
Reusable water bottles – this was a easy one for us, as we mainly use them anyway, we’ll just have to really work for it when we have get together’s and parties
Less take out, more home-cooked – we’ve really been trying to eat more whole foods that is prepared by us. I’ve been cooking and eating a lot of veggies and lately mostly only chicken. I could totally eat a plant based diet but the boys are another thing. We aren’t perfect and have had take out once a week for dinner. I have so many kitchen appliances there was really no excuse not to be cooking more at home.
I’m dedicated to switching our lifestyle around and waste less, baby steps I keep repeating to myself. All in time, but I am very proud of the switches we made so far. Stay tuned for more changes and improvements, I’ll be sure to share share again in a couple weeks. If you’d like to keep up to our day to day, you can follow me on Instagram.